We made latkes for Christmas Eve. I know, these grated potato fritters are more connected with Judaism and Hannukah than Christianity, but they made perfect sense with our global tapas menu, plus my son is a very Old Testament kind of kid who is adamant that we need to have a menorah next year and who bought himself dreidels with his leftover money from the school holiday shopping fair.
Welcome to New York, where as the comedian Jackie Mason used to say, everyone is at least half-Jewish.
Anyhoo, we are still working out our latke recipe, but in the meantime, they tasted very nice with the traditional accompaniments of sour cream and this apple sauce. Apple sauce is very easy to make and allows you to choose how sweet or tart and how sooth or chunky you want it. We have a fun apple peeler and corer, so the little guy can get involved too!
Apple Sauce (makes about a pint and a half)
3 lbs mixed apples (try to combine tart and sweet), peeled, cored and sliced
(you may skip the peeling if you will be using a food processor/to add pink color)
1 Tbs light brown sugar (white will work fine)
1 Tbs lemon juice
Zest and juice of one Clementine (half the quantities if using navel orange)
Pinch salt
Water as needed
Cinnamon to taste (optional)
Place all ingredients except water and cinnamon) in a heavy lidded pot. Bring to a boil at medium high; lower heat to medium and simmer covered for 10-15 minutes, until apples soften and break up, adding water by the ¼ Cup if needed (fresh, fall apples are juicier; apples that have been stored may be less juicy). Mash or run through food processor until you reach desired texture. Stir in cinnamon if desired. Serve. (May be refrigerated for about four days).
Adding the clementine juice must give the applesauce a nice taste.
It really does…I am not so fond of orange zest, but I do like the clementine flavor!
The corer looks like so much fun! I spent so much time in the kitchen over the past two days that I am sitting here catching up on blogs! I wish you the best in 2014!
Same here…just beginning to dial down
Those peelers are so cool! I hope you are all having a fab holiday 🙂
We are! Hope you are too!